A
ditransitive V in BA selects an NP and a PP (1) or two NP’s (2). Due to their select nature, these phrases/clauses are indis-pensable and their omission would deform such sentences. (Dan 2:21) ˜ymyKj'l] at;m]k]j; bhy… (1)jâheb - xâkmetâ - lexakkijmijn
gives - the wisdom - to wise men “He gives wisdom to the wise”. (Dan 2:5) ˜Wmc;T]y ylw:n“ ˜/kyTb;W (2)
ubâttejkown - newâlij - jitshâmûn
and houses yours - ruins - he will be laid “...and your houses will be laid in ruins...”
The word order of any sentence with a ditransitive verb will of ne-cessity differ materially from word orders where the V is transitive or intransitive, due to the fact that the ditransitive verb has a twofold object. In this chapter the prevalence of an additional/second object position within the lexical domain is investigated. The functional domain has to be adapted to accommodate an additional AgrOP po-sition in order to make provision for the licensing of an additional or second object.
The derivation of word orders with a twofold object without an explicit S will be discussed first, followed by twofold word orders with an explicit S.
6
Word orders with ditransitive
verbs
The derivation of word orders with a twofold object in BA sen-tences will be arranged according to their classes of conjugation, viz Perfect, Imperfect and Participle. The hypothesis that V movement can offer an adequate explanation of the various word orders will be justified by the use of model sentences with ditransitive V’s.
6.1 Derivation of sentences with ditransitive verbs in MP
The derivation of sentences with ditransitive verbs must necessarily differ materially from that of those with intransitive or transitive V’s. Larson (1988: 335-91) develops a structure for dative and twofold-object constructions, also adapted by Chomsky (1992: 18), for the derivation of ditransitive V’s within MP.
The basic assumption of Larson’s structure is that the VP is da-tive, as illustrated in (3) (adapted):
(3) VP John NP2 V' e VP a letter NP1 V' sent V PP to Mary
The VP consists of a vacant V and a VP complement with a spe-cifier a letter, a head send and a complement to Mary. In order to achieve the sentence John sent a letter to Mary, sent moves to the vacant V position. The movement leaves a trace t.1
One may illustrate GT as a structure-building mechanism for di-transitive V’s in terms of Larson’s (1988: 383-4) exposition by dint of the English language sentence (4):
(4) John sent a letter to Mary.
1 Zwart (1993: 220-7) indicates that in addition to Larson’s (1988) analysis of a
twofold-object construction, Small Clause analysis is feasible. Sentence (i) con-tains a Small Clause:
(i) John put the book on the shelf (i)(a)
The syntactic derivation of sentence (4) starts with a selection of substantive heads: the V sent, the NP’s John and a letter, the PP to
Mary, each fully inflected, with its own morphological features (case,
tense, and congruence) already added. Sent as a ditransitive V requi-res three arguments: one to which the role of Agent may be accorded, one capable of receiving that of Theme, and another capable of recei-ving that of Goal. a letter and to Mary figure as select clauses and are indispensable parts of the sentence.
In the projection of the syntactic derivation the thematic hierar-chy (Larson 1988: 382) must be diligently adhered to, viz:
Agent Theme Goal ...
The course of the derivation may be portrayed as follows: The operation of projection creates a VP with a vacant position (e) to be occupied by an argument with the role of Goal; the VP, the NP’s and the PP are interdependent.
VP John NP V' put V XP the book NP X' X PP on the shelf A traditional Small Clause reads as follows: (ii) I find [Mary pretty]
(iii) He painted [the door red] (iv) I consider [him a fool]
According to Radford (1988: 324-32), a Small Clause has the following charac-teristics:
(a) the structure [NP XP];
(b) no complement or inflectional constituent.
In (i)(a) the book is not an internal argument of put, but an external argument of
on the shelf.
The two analyses vary in their understanding of the role played by the verb put. In Larson’s analysis, put is generated as the head of a lower VP, while in Small Clause analysis the head is empty and put is generated as the higher VP.
(5)
VP NP NP PP
sent e John a letter to Mary
The operation of merging places the PP in the vacant VP-position. (6)
VP NP NP
sent PP John a letter to Mary
The operation of projection creates a new VP with a vacant posi-tion for an argument in receipt of the Theme-role.
(7) VP2 NP NP e VP1 John a letter sent to Mary
The operation of merging inserts the NP a letter into the vacant VP2-position; a letter constitutes the specifier for the head sent and the PP to Mary the complement.
(8) VP2 NP a letter VP1 John sent to Mary
Structure (8) leave one argument, the Agent, unprojected, but a po-sition has to be projected for it under VP. The operation of projection therefore creates a vacant head devoid of independent thematic requirements with VP2as the complement. The NP constitutes the specifier of the newly projected VP4and will receive the Agent-role,
(9) VP4 John VP3 e VP2
The operation of merging joins (8) and (9) together to create structure (10): (10) VP4 John VP3 e VP2 a letter VP1 sent to Mary
The morphological features of John, sent, a letter, and to Mary must be licensed. At least four functional heads have to be selected and pro-jected.
The relevant functional headings T, AgrS and AgrO, which have been projected, are retained, but an extension of AgrO may be ex-pected. This expected extension is a result of the twofold object-con-struction occurring in (10). The operation of projection creates an additional or second AgrOP position with an empty Spec-position and an AgrOP position with a vacant complement. The newly pro-jected AgrOP is inserted by the operation of merging into the vacant complement position of the existing AgrOP:
(11) ... TP1 (V-features) T AgrOPII2 (N-features) NP AgrOPII1
(V-features) AgrO2 AgrOPI2
(N-features) AgrOPI1
(V-features) Agr ...
The existing and newly projected structure is merged with VP4
to form a single structure (12): (12) AgrSP2 (N-features) NP AgrSP1 (V-features) AgrS TP1 T AgrOPII2 (N-features) NP AgrOPII1
(V-features) AgrO2 AgrOPI2
(N-features) N AgrOPI1 (V-features) AgrO1 VP4 John NP2 VP3 e V2 VP2 a letter NP1 VP1 sent V1 PP to Mary Licensing of the strong /weak features for sentence (4), which in-cludes a ditransitive V, may take place overtly or covertly in the course
of the derivation. Chomsky (1992: 19) suggests the following pro-cessing for the syntactic derivation of sentence (4):2
V1moves to the vacant position of V2to form a link in the chain (sent, t). The expected result is that the minimal domain of this chain (sent, t) will be the three arguments (NP1, NP2, PP). The internal do-main of the chain (sent, t) will be the internal arguments, viz NP1and PP. The domain for the licensing of the chain (sent, t) will be NP2. No minimal domain, internal domain or control domain will be available for sent per se; only for the chain (sent, t). Schematically the processing assumes the following features:
(13) VP4 John VP3 (sent, t) VP2 a letter VP1 t to Mary
Feature licensing takes place from the positions in structure (13) against the corresponding categories in the functional domain.
6.2 Two-fold objects in BA
A ditransitive verb selects two objects, one direct and another indi-rect. According to Cohen (1975: 3), in BA, indirect objects are wont to be introduced by the preposition l] (le).The use of this preposition is prevalent in all Semitic tongues. Direct objects, on the other hand, are indicated by one of three constructions:
(i) The direct object may be phonologically unmarked but identified by the selection of the V:
(Dan 2:7) yh/db]['l] rmæay am…l]j, aK;l]m' (14)
malkâ´ - xêlmâ´ - je´mar - le`abdowhij
2 A full analysis of the domain definition has been effected in chapter 2 (2.3.2
the king - the dream - let he tell - to his servants subject - direct object - verb - indirect object “Let the king tell his servants the dream”.
(ii) The direct object may be marked by the preposition l] (le): (Dan 2:25) laYnd;l] l[n“h' J/yr]a' ˜ydæa‘ (15)
´eedajin - ´arjowk - han`el - ledânijje´l
then - Arioch - he brought in - Daniel subject - verb - direct object “Then Arioch brought in Daniel”.
(iii) The direct object may be a pronominal suffix (clitic) attached to the V:
(Dan 4:2) ynNælj}dæyw tyzj} µl,j (16)
xelêm - xazejt - wijdaxalinnanij
dream - I saw - and it made afraid + me
subject - subject - verb + direct object “I had a dream which made me afraid”.
As indicated previously, the preposition l] (le) may be employed to introduce either a direct or an indirect object.
In BA, an object, whether direct or indirect, reveals no inflection-al features for case. Only gender and number are reveinflection-aled by the noun. Accordingly, the N-features of an O which have to be licensed against the corresponding N-features of AgrOP, are weak in BA. Fur-thermore, the overt congruence between V and O is completely lack-ing. The V-features of AgrOP are weak, as are those of both direct and indirect O’s.
6.3 Model sentences in BA with ditransitive verbs
The data with ditransitive V’s in BA reveal the following word orders:
6.3.1
Ditransitive verbs without an overt subject
(i) The V-O1-O2word order V as Perfect active Simple sentence
(Ezra 5:12) rXæn<d]k'Wbn“ dy"B] /Mh bhæy] (17)
jehab - himmow - bejad - nebûkadnêtstsar
he gave - them - into the hand of - Nebuchadnezzar “He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar”. V as Participle active
Simple sentence
(Dan 2:21) ˜ymyKj'l] at;m]k]j; bhy… (18)
jâheb - xôkmetâ´ - lexakkijmijn
gives - the wisdom - to the wise men “He gives wisdom to the wise”. (ii) The V-O2(cl)-O1word order
V as Imperfect active Conditional sentence
(Dan 2:5) am;l]j, ynN"W[d]/ht] al… ˜h (19)
hen - lâ´ - tehowde`ûnnanij - xêlmâ´
if - not - you make known to me - the dream “If you do not make known to me the dream...” (iii) The O1-V-O2word order
V as Perfect active Complex sentence
(Dan 2:48) Hl+Abh'y“ ˜n:!T]m'W (20)
ûmattenân - jehab - leh
and gifts - he gave - to him “...and he gave him gifts...” (iv) The O1-V-O2(cl) word order
V as Perfect active Complex sentence
(Ezra 5:11) an:Wbyth} am…g:t]p am;nk]W (21)
ûkenemâ´ - pitgâmâ´ - hatijbûnâ´
“...and this was their reply to us...” (v) The O2-V-O1word order
V as Perfect active Simple sentence
(Dan 6:23) yl+ tj'kæT]v]h Wkz; (22)
zâkû - histekaxat - lij
blameless - she found - to me “She found me blameless”.
6.3.2
Ditransitive verbs with an overt subject
(i) The O1-V-S-O2word order V as Perfect active
Simple sentence
(Dan 2:15) laYnd;l] J/yr]a' [d"/h at;L]m ˜ydæa‘ (23)
´eedajin - milletâ´ - howda` - ´arjowk - ledânijje´l
then - the matter - he made known - Arioch - to Daniel “Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel”. V as Participle active
Complex sentence
(Dan 4:4) ˜/hymd;q’ hn:a} rmæa; am;l]j,w“ (24)
wexêlmâ´ - ´âmar - ´anâh - qodâmejhown
and the dream - told - I - before them “...I told them the dream...”
(ii) The S-O1-V-O2word order V as Perfect active
Simple sentence
(Dan 5:18) rXæn<d]k'bun]l bhæy“ at…Wkl]m' ay:L;[ ah;l;a‘ (25)
´eelâhâ´ - `illâj´â - malkûtâ´ - jehab - linebukadnêtstsar
the God - the Most High - the kingship - he gave - to Nebuchadnezzar “The Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingship”.
From the word order of the sentences in (17)-(25) it may be gau-ged that there is only one simple example in which two positions are generated left of the V. This is in keeping with the proposal (in chapter 5 (5.5)) that two topic positions are available in BA to ex-plain the distribution of multiple topics. The derivation of sentences (17)-(25) with ditransitive V’s will now be discussed.
6.4 Derivation of ditransitive verbs without an overt
subject in BA
6.4.1
Derivation of BA sentences with V-O
1-O
2word order
The syntactic derivation of sentence (18) starts with the selection of substantive heads: the V jâheb, the NP xôkmetâ´ and the PP lexakkijmijn, each fully inflected, with its morphological features
(case, tense, and congruence) already added. jâheb, as a ditransitive V, requires two arguments: one to receive the role of Theme and another that of Goal. Even though the V is in the Participle conjugation class and consequently requires an overt S in BA, the overt S in the prece-ding passage is explicit, which renders it unnecessary to indicate it twice. The argument receiving the role of Agent is therefore covert and has to be indicated with pro (26):
(26) VP4 pro VP3 e VP2 xôkmetâ´ VP1 jâheb lexakkij´mijn
The morphological features of jâheb, xôkmetâ´ and lexakkijmijn
must be licensed. Four functional heads, viz AgrOI, AgrOII, T and AgrS are selected, projected and merged with (26) in order to consti-tute structure (27):
(27) AgrSP2 (N-features) NP AgrSP1 (V-features) Agr TP1 T AgrOPII2 (N-features) NP AgrOPII1
(V-features) AgrO2 AgrOPI2
(N-features) NP AgrOPI1 (V-features) AgrO1 VP4 pro VP3 e (V2) VP2 xôkmetâ´ VP1 jâheb (V1) lexakkijmijn
The verb jâheb moves overtly to V2 to form a link in the chain (jâheb, t). A trace t is left in V1. AgrO2 and AgrO1 have weak V-features, but the V moves to T, necessarily and overtly to AgrO1and AgrO2to ensure that the most economical route is followed. As a re-sult of the strong V-features on T, the chain (jâheb, t) overtly moves further to T to license and eliminate the corresponding V-features prior to spell-out. It moves covertly further to AgrS after spell-out.
The N-features on AgrOP1and AgrOP2are weak. The direct O
xôkmetâ´ and the indirect O lexakkijmijn remain in situ in the lexical
domain where O1and O2were originally generated. It is only after spell-out that the direct and indirect objects in covert processing will move to Spec-AgrO1 and Spec-AgrO2 respectively to license their corresponding N-features.
(28) AgrSP2 NP AgrSP1 AgrS TP1 (jâheb, t)i AgrOPII2 NP AgrOPII1 ti AgrOPI2 NP AgrOPI1 ti VP4 pro VP3 ti VP2 xôkmetâ´ VP1 t lexakkijmijn
After derivation the word order is V-O1-O2. It is surmised that V-O1-O2will also be the unmarked word order for ditransitive V’s without an overt S. Inference (F) is as follows:
(F): In BA, V-O1-O2is the unmarked word order.
6.4.2
Derivation of BA sentences with V-O
2(cl)-O
1word
order
The indirect object in sentence (19), which is repeated here, func-tions as an object suffix. In BA, an object suffix is written as part of the V, as an enclitic.
(Dan 2:5) am…l]j, ynN"W[d]/ht] al… ˜h (19)
hen - lâ´ - tehowde`ûnnanij - xêlmâ´
if - not - you tell me - the dream “If you do not tell me the dream...”
The syntactic derivation of sentence (19) starts with a selection of substantive heads: the V tehowde`ûn, with the clitic nanij, and the NP xêlmâ´. tehowde`ûn, as a ditransitive V, requires three arguments: one
to which the role of Agent may be accorded, another capable of re-ceiving that of Theme and yet another that of Goal. The argument to which the role of Agent is accorded is covert and is indicated as pro.3
The lexical derivation of sentence (19) is as follows (29): (29) VP4 pro VP3 e VP2 xêlmâ´ VP1 V proi tehowde`ûn naniji
The morphological features of tehowde`ûn + nanij and xêlmâ´ must
be licensed. At least four functional heads have to be selected, pro-jected and merged with (29) in order to eventually justify the syntac-tic derivation.
The V + clitic (tehowde`ûnnanij) moves overtly to V2to form the chain (tehowde`ûnnanij, t). This moves overtly further to AgrO1, to AgrO2, to T and then finally to AgrS to license and eliminate strong V-features on T and AgrS prior to spell-out. The direct O xêlmâ´ re-mains in situ as the result of the weak N-features reflected by AgrOPII. The V-O2(cl)-O1word order is the result of these operations.
The overt processing is depicted in structure (30):
(30) AgrSP2 NP AgrSP1 (tehowde`ûn + nanij, t)i TP1 ti AgrOPII2 NP AgrOPII1 ti AgrOPI2 NP AgrOPI1 ti VP4 pro VP3 ti(V2) VP2 xêlmâ´ VP1 V proi t
6.4.3
Derivation of BA sentences with O
1-V-O
2word order
The direct O occupies a position to the left of V in the O1-V-O2word order. On the basis of inference (D), that O-V word order is marked in BA and the object occupies a topic position, it may be accepted that the direct O in sentence (20) which is repeated here, occupies a topic position. The indirect object remains in situ where O2was ori-ginally generated.
(Dan 2:48) HlAbh'y“ ˜n:T]m'W (20)
ûmattenân - jehab - leh
and gifts - he gave - to him “...and he gave him gifts...”
The syntactic derivation of sentence (20) starts with a selection of substantive heads: the V jehab, the NP ûmattenân and the PP leh. jehab, as a ditransitive verb, requires three arguments: one to which
the role of Agent may be accorded, another capable of receiving that of Theme and yet another that of Goal. The argument to which the role of Agent is accorded is covertly present.
A feature [+ topic] is added to ûmattenân. In BA the [+ topic]
feature is a strong N-feature which requires licensing. The operation of projection therefore creates a TopP where ûmattenân can check the
strong topic features. The lexical derivation of sentence (20) is as follows: (31) VP4 pro VP3 e (V2) VP2 ûmattenân VP1 jehab leh
The morphological features of ûmattenân, jehab and leh must be
licensed. The functional heads AgrOI, AgrOII, T, AgrS and TopP are selected, projected and merged with (31) to justify the syntactic derivation.
The V jehab moves overtly to V2in order to constitute the chain (jehab, t). The chain (jehab, t) overtly moves further to AgrO1, AgrO2, T, and finally AgrS in order to license weak-features on AgrO1and AgrO2and strong V-features on T and AgrS prior to spell-out.
The topic position Spec-TopP reveals strong N-features. The direct O ûmattenân moves overtly, underway to Spec-TopP, in order to
license these features prior to spell-out, via Spec-AgrOII in order to license weak N-features.
The indirect O leh remains in situ as the result of N-features revealed by AgrOP1. The overt processing is reported in (32):
(32) TopP2 ûmattenânj TopP1 Top AgrSP2 NP AgrSP1 (jehab, t)i TP1 ti AgrOPII2 tj AgrOPII1 ti AgrOPI2 NP AgrOPI1 ti VP4 pro VP3 ti VP2 tj VP1 t leh The result is an O1-V-O2word order with the direct O as an object topic in the O1-V-O2word order.
6.4.4
Derivation of BA sentences with O
1-V-O
2(cl) word
order
The derivation of the O1-V-O2(cl) word order requires exactly the same processing as the derivation of the O1-V-O2word order (6.4.3), with the notable difference that the indirect O in sentence (21) moves, as a clitic,4with the V to AgrOPI, AgrOPII, T and then AgrS as in (32). For the sake of convenience (21) is repeated here:
(Ezra 5:11) an:Wbyth} am…g:t]p am;nk]W (21)
ûkenemâ´ - pitgâmâ´ - hatijbûnâ´
and the next - the answer - they gave us “...and this was their reply to us...”
The overt processing of sentence (21) is reported as follows (33): (33)
TopP2
ûkenemâ´ - pitgâmâ´j TopP1
Top AgrSP2 NP AgrSP1 (hatijbûnâ´i, t)n TP1 tn AgrOPII2 tj AgrOPII1 tn AgrOPI2 NP AgrOPI1 tn VP4 pro VP3 tn VP2 tj VP1 V proi (t)i The result is an O1-V-O2(cl) word order. The direct O is a topic and the indirect object nâ´ a clitic which moves overtly with the V.
6.4.5
Derivation of BA sentences with O
2-V-O
1word order
It may be gauged from the O2-V-O1word order that the indirect O is generated in a position to the left of the verb, which is, according to inference (D), a topic position. As opposed to the O1-V-O2word order in (6.4.3), the indirect O in sentence (22), which is repeated here, will assume the function of a topic. Consequently a feature [+ topic] is added to zâkû.
(Dan 6:23) yl tj'kæT]v]h Wkz; (22)
zâkû - histekaxat - lij
blameless - she found - to me “She found me blameless”.
The V histekaxat moves overtly to V2to form the chain (histekaxat,
t). The chain (histekaxat, t) moves overtly to AgrO1and AgrO2to li-cense weak features and then to T and finally to AgrS to lili-cense strong V-features prior to spell-out.
The available topic position Spec-TopP reveals strong N-features. Consequently zâkû moves overtly to Spec-TopP to license and eliminate the strong N-features of O2prior to spell-out. On its way to Spec-TopP zâkû will first overtly move to Spec-AgrOI for weak N-feature checking.
The direct O lij remains in situ because AgrOPII reveals a weak N-feature.
The derivation of the O2-V-O1word order in sentence (22) may be sketched as follows (34):
^
^ ^
(34) TopP2 zâkûj TopP1 Top AgrSP2 N AgrSP1 (histekaxat, t)i TP1 ti AgrOPII2 NP AgrOPII1 ti AgrOPI2 tj AgrOPI1 ti VP4 pro VP3 ti VP2 lij VP1 t tj This results in the O2-V-O1word order with the indirect O function-ing as a topic.
6.5 Derivation of ditransitive verbs with an overt subject
in BA
6.5.1
Derivation of BA sentences with O
1-V-S-O
2word
order
The syntactic derivation of sentence (23), which is repeated here, starts with the selection of substantive heads: the V howda`, the NP’s
milletâ´ and ´arjowk and the PP ledânijje´l. howda`, as a ditransitive
verb, requires three arguments: one capable of receiving the role of Theme, viz milletâ´; another that of Goal, viz ledânijje´l, and yet
another that of Agent, viz ´arjowk. A feature [+ topic] is added to
milletâ´.
(Dan 2:15) laYnd;l] J/yr]a' [dæ/h at;L]m ˜ydæa‘ (23)
´eedajin - milletâ´ - howda` - ´arjowk - ledânijje´l
then - the matter - he made known - Arioch - to Daniel “Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel”.
The operations of projection and merging are applied to consti-tute structure (35): (35) VP4 ´arjowk VP3 e (V2) VP2 milletâ´ VP1 howda` (V1) ledânijje´l
The morphological features of milletâ´, howda`, ´arjowk and ledânijje´l must be licensed. The functional heads AgrOI, AgrOII, T,
AgrS and TopP are selected, projected and merged with (35) in order to justify the syntactic derivation of sentence (23):
(36) TopP2 milletâ´j TopP1 Top AgrSP2 NP AgrSP1 (howda`, t)i TP1 ti AgrOPII2 tj AgrOPII1 ti AgrOPI2 NP AgrOPI1 ti VP4 ´arjowk VP3 ti(V2) VP2 tj VP1 t ledânijje´l
In the syntactic derivation of sentence (23), the V howda` moves overtly to V2 in order to form the chain (howda`, t). The chain (howda`, t) moves overtly further to AgrO1and to AgrO2in order to license weak features and thereafter to T and AgrS to license strong V-features prior to spell-out.
In terms of inference (D), the direct O milletâ´ occupies a topic position. It moves overtly to Spec-TopP in order to license strong N-features prior to spell-out. On its way, it moves overtly to Spec-AgrOII in order to license weak N-features.
The S ´arjowk remains in situ as the consequence of weak N-features revealed by AgrS. The indirect O ledânijje´l also remains in situ where O2has been generated in the lexical domain.
An O1-V-S-O2word order results, with the direct O as the topic.
6.5.2
Derivation of BA sentences with S-O
1-V-O
2word
order
The derivation of the S-O1-V-O2word order links up with the S-O-V word order dealt with in chapter 5 (5.5). In the derivation of the S-O-V word order, two topic positions were suggested to which S and O may move respectively for feature licensing. The processing applicable to the S-O-V word order will also apply to sentence (25), which reveals the S-O1-V-O2word order, with the only difference to be found in the indirect O, which is an additional feature of sentence (25), and remaining in situ. Sentence (25) is repeated here.
(Dan 5:18) rXæn<d]k'bun“l bhæy“ at…Wkl]m' a;yL;[ ah;l;a‘ (25)
´eelâhâ´ - `illâj´â - malkûtâ´ - jehab - linebukadnêtstsar
the God - the Most High - the kingship - he gave - to Nebuchadnezzar “The Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingship”. In the syntactic derivation of sentence (25) the S ´eelâhâ´ `illâj´â
moves overtly as a matter of necessity to AgrS and thereafter to Spec-TopII to license strong topic (subject) N-features in the latter prior to spell-out.
Spec-TopPI reveals strong topic (object) N-features. These cause the direct O malkûtâ´ to move overtly to Spec-AgrOPII and then to Spec-TopPI to license and eliminate the strong N-features of O1
prior to spell-out on Spec-TopI.
The V jehab moves prior to spell-out to the vacant position V2to form the chain (jehab, t). This chain moves overtly further to AgrOI
and AgrOII to license weak V-features and thereafter to T and AgrS to license strong V-features. The indirect O linebukadnêtstsar remains in situ.
The overt processing of sentence (25) may be sketched as follows (37):
(37) TopPII2 ´eelâhâ´ `illâj´â n TopPII1 Top TopPI2 malkûtâ´j TopPI1 Top AgrSP2 tn AgrSP1 (jehab, t)i TP1 ti AgrOPII2 tj AgrOPII1 ti AgrOPI2 NP AgrOPI1 ti VP4 tn VP3 ti(V2) VP2 tj VP1 t linebukadnêtstsar
This results in an S-O1-V-O2 word order with S and O1as topics.
6.6 Conclusions
• An additional or second AgrOP position in the functional domain is suggested for the syntactic derivation of BA sentences with a ditransitive V.
• The features of both direct and indirect objects are weak in BA. • V-O1-O2is the unmarked word order of ditransitive V’s without
an overt subject in BA.
• V-O2(cl)-O1is the unmarked word order in BA, where the clitic moves overtly with V. The S is non-overtly present.
• O1-V-O2, O1-V-O2(cl), O2-V-O1 and O1-V-S-O2 are marked word orders in BA with an O which is topicalised in every instance.
• S-O1-V-O2is a marked word order in BA with S and O1as topics. The word order of any sentence with a ditransitive V in BA is jus-tifiable within the principles of economy propounded by Chomsky (1992).
